''Tales from the Neverending Story'' is a single-season TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's 1979 novel ''

The Neverending Story ''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several ...

'', produced (in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada during December 2000-August 2002) and distributed by

Muse Entertainment Muse Entertainment is a Canadian producer of films and television programs founded by Michael Prupas in 1998. The company gained press attention in 2011 for their production of the multi-Emmy winning and nominated miniseries '' The Kennedys'' in as ...

, and aired on HBO in 2002. It was aired as 4 two-hour

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s in the US and as a TV series of 13 one-hour episodes in the UK. The first two television movies were released on DVD and VHS in 2002, followed by a complete series

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

in 2004. Departing from the canon of the 1979 novel ''The Neverending Story'' by Michael Ende, the overall story in the series explored the

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a Character (arts), character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reason ...

of how Bastian discovers Fantasia from an even greater point of divergence from Michael Ende's novel than the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

Warner Brothers films had previously depicted. Events from the novel occur out of order, and specific plot points are reversed between characters. For example, in the novel and films, it is Bastian who enters the world of Fantasia, but here it is Atreyu who enters our world. The concept of Yin and yang is introduced by altering the nature of the Childlike Empress's relationship with Xayide. In the series they are sisters with opposing ideologies. The Old Man of Wandering Mountain also takes on a larger role in the series becoming a mentor of sorts to Atreyu in much the same way as Karl Konrad Koreander is for Bastian. The series also introduces new supporting characters. Lucas and Marley are Bastian's friends who try to defend him from school bullies, and Fly Ry is a heroine whom Atreyu meets who is on her own Quest. ''Tales from The Neverending Story'' is the first live action adaption not to feature the characters of Nighthob, Teeny-Weeny, or Rockbiter.

Episodes

US version

# The Beginning - Part 1 # The Gift - Part 2 # Badge of Courage - Part 3 # Resurrection - Part 4

UK version

# Heart of Stone - Episode 1 (Pilot) # The Nothing - Episode 2 # The Luckdragon - Episode 3 # Deleting Mr. Blank - Episode 4 # The Gift of the Name - Episode 5 # Home Sweet Home - Episode 6 # The Sceptre - Episode 7 # The Luck Stops Here - Episode 8 # Badge of Courage - Episode 9 # Deus Ex Machina - Episode 10 # Stairway to Heaven - Episode 11 # The Visitor - Episode 12 # Resurrection - Episode 13 (Finale)

Cast

Mark Rendall Mark Rendall (born October 21, 1988) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor whose roles include the lead in the 2004 film, '' Childstar'' and Mick in season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ''ReGenesis''. He played Bastian Bux ...

as Bastian Balthazar Bux * Greg Kramer as Rip Rowdy *Noël Burton as Michael Bux *Emma Campbell as April *John Dunn-Hill as Koreander * Sally Taylor-Isherwood as Yonie *Audrey Gardiner as Childlike Empress *

Tyler Hynes Tyler Jeffrey Hynes (born May 6, 1986) is a Canadian actor. Early life Hynes was born in Toronto, Ontario, but later grew up on a ranch outside Ottawa. He began acting professionally at the age of eight. Career Hynes got his professional st ...

as Atreyu * Victoria Sanchez as Xayide *Johnny Griffin as Connor *Jane Wheeler as Laura Bux *Robert Crooks as Tartus *Stéfanie Buxton as Fly Girl *

Emma Taylor-Isherwood Emma-Rose Taylor-Isherwood (born April 27, 1987Carleton University >> Graduating Class of Spring 2009. URL accessed on November 3, 2009. After graduating from the Arts Canterbury Theatre program Taylor-Isherwood continued performing while attend ...

as Olano *Edward Yankie as Mr. Blank *Amanda Tilson as Little Girl/Nanda *Stefano Faustini as Lucas *Brittany Drisdelle as Fallon *Valérie Chiniara as Marley

References

External links

* {{HBONetwork Shows 2000s Canadian children's television series 2001 Canadian television series debuts 2002 Canadian television series endings Canadian children's adventure television series Canadian children's fantasy television series HBO original programming Television series about children Television series by Muse Entertainment Television shows filmed in Montreal English-language television shows High fantasy television series TV series 2